Potential Role of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells as Regenerative Medicine in Retinal Cell Damage

Induced pluripotent stem cells (also called iPSCs) are somatic cells reprogrammed by overexpressing four nuclear transcriptional factors containing Sox2, Klf4, c-myc and Oct4 is the one of research hotspots. Its pluripotency, self-renewal capacity and wide accessibility to donor tissues have made possible the means for modified regenerative medicine. They are considered a possible basis of healthy tissue to cure diseases, like ophthalmic diseases, degenerative diseases, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), are primarily because of the weakening capability of photoreceptor cells, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) or other retinal cells. And these retinal cells are unable to regenerate and currently there are no effective treatments to restore sight. iPSCs allow for the in vitro development of numerous varieties of retinal cells, and may treat these diseases by retinal transplantation. Although other stem cells could differentiate into retinal cells, iPSCs derived retinal cells might have numerous benefits as compared to other stem cell sources including embryonic stem (ES) cells. Mainly they would be directly obtained from the patient, therefore eradicating every probable chance of adverse immune responses. Second, making iPSCs just needs somatic cells, thus circumventing the valid ethical issues which limited the clinic use of ES cells derived from human. Third, iPSCs are parallel to ES cells in differentiation ability, they can be expanded in vitro and induced to differentiate into retinal cells, providing a renewable source for therapeutic applications and scientific researches. In this current review, we have concise latest progresses.